Jamesthepratt

I used to live in archway until last year - lived in that area for past 7 years… Your best bet is Boston arms in Tufnell Park as they have several screens (not the best pub but been to worse) depends what it clashes with footy wise? the Rothaus pub is the St. John’s tavern - best pub in archway - they won’t put any sport on though. personally if I was you - save yourself the stress and watch it in your hotel and then hit some pubs before / after ( Southampton arms, pineapple , junction arms, St. John’s tavern all musts if you like atmospheric boozers with decent beer. Enjoy

I’m not comparing them at all. I’m just giving you the overnight figures the reason I said the games on Thursday were a bit disappointing is because they are low figures for bbc2 regardless of day/time/slot.

England v Oz wheelchair average - 447k. peaked at 642k Wheelchair Games yesterday were a bit disappointing around 100k average (peaking at 150k)

One thing I always wondered … could French players be exempt from salary cap(in england) … or up to a point. might encourage investment in French players and engage super league clubs in funding French talent earlier in their careers

i was pretty pleased when I heard the Kaiser chiefs weren't coming back on. But being serious - - looking at what was going to be on offer...what did we really miss? AMAZING GAME.

Dave Woods did well there to be fair - struck the balance correctly between sparing the blushes of prod team but acknowlging there was a tech issue...

I love the training top - should be the match shirt! Just bought.

So, we all know that the game needs re-invigorating ,the fan base needs broadening and media attention has to be increased. One simple answer to this is a better international scene. Which we all want but sadly can’t rely on. Whilst we should definitely be striving to improve the international calendar, I believe that we’re now in a situation where we need to do something else – Something that we can do off our own backs. So, here’s a suggestion that I want to put to the forum… A small franchise-based tournament that could happen either at the end of the season, or at set points throughout it. Think cricket’s ‘Hundred’ meets unions ‘Six Nations’ with a splash of ‘State of Origin’ THE (INSERT SPONSOR NAME HERE) CROWN 5 teams that each represent a large passionate geographical location/ group of people, play each other once. Research needs to be done on what teams the wider public would be drawn to supporting. But for now, imagine something like…. NORTHWEST POWER Taking in Greater Manchester, Lancs and Cheshire NORTH LAND RAMS Cumber’land’, West Mor’land’, Northumber’land’ and Scot’land’ you get the idea! YORKSHIRE UNITED Simply the 3 ridings of Yorkshire SOUTHERN DRAGONS Wales and Southern England (anywhere south of Cheshire/Yorks) LE TRICALORE Basically – France! We already have 2 knockout comps (challenge cup and playoffs) so I suggest this is a simple, top of the table lifts the crown each season. Home and away alternates each year. Games to be played in as bigger stadia as possible. Things to Note: Eligibility I think should be pretty loose as we want to spread the talent amongst the teams. So I’d say players can just throw their hat in the ring for whoever they want. I think international players can play but perhaps there is a cap to encourage home nation talent? Internationals This tournament would be seen as a pre-curser to big internationals (not in place of them) and vital for selection chances of players. France would basically be playing their 1st team against 4 strong teams so it would help develop them as a nation. Finance A clever financial model would need to be created that proportionately split profits (largely gate/broadcasting rights) between all clubs (Superleague – L1) with incentive bonuses for clubs that have provided more players. That way we get buy in from the clubs Welfare/ Schedule These Matches would be instead of loop fixtures. Thoughts